OTTAWA – Bell Canada claims the CRTC, in its decision to kill the company's $3.4 billion takeover of Astral Media, ignored its own rules, created a bunch of new ones, was based on incorrect market share calculations and because of that it has asked the federal government to directly step in.
Calling the CRTC decision “absurd,” on Monday, BCE Inc. submitted a request to the federal Cabinet that it issue a policy direction under Section 7 of the Broadcasting Act that directs the CRTC to follow its existing policies when reviewing change of control transactions in broadcasting,…
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TORONTO – Astral has announced that programming from The Movie Network, HBO Canada and The Movie Network Encore is now available as part of the Shaw Exo On Demand and Shaw Direct On Demand services. The content offering will be available to Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct subscribers of Astral's premium pay-television services in eastern Canada at no extra charge.
"Delivering our content across multiple platforms is a…
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CALGARY – From bucket lists to wedding proposals, Shaw TV is shaking up its community TV schedule by launching five new national shows as part of its fall lineup of local programming.
"We continue to deliver unique and diverse local community programming exclusively to our Shaw Cable customers," said Peter Bissonnette, President, Shaw Communications Inc. "This fall, viewers can look forward to compelling in-house and community-produced dramas that look to engage viewers like never before."
Make it Happen – Everyone has a dream and Shaw TV is making things happen for Canadians each weeknight…
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GATINEAU – Saying it is “shocked” and “appalled” at the CRTC’s decision to deny its $3.4 billion purchase of Astral Media, Bell Canada says it isn’t through with this fight yet.
"This is a decision that should not stand. Canadian consumers were told today by the CRTC that they don't deserve more – more choice, more competition, more Canadian content funding – all of which Bell and Astral committed to with this transaction," said George Cope, president and CEO of Bell Canada and BCE Inc. in a sharply worded statement released hours after the Commission decision was made public at…
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THE ASTONISHED FEEDBACK came fast and furious late Thursday as people tried to give voice to their feelings on the Commission decision to deny Bell Canada’s $3.4 billon purchase of Astral Media.
******************** “Like most observers, we had expected conditional approval,” said analyst Dvai Ghose of Canaccord Genuity in a note to clients. “This could also have implications for other potential media transactions such as Shaw-Corus, although in that case both entities are already controlled by the Shaw family. We also believe that the speculation of a Corus bid for Astral could rise and could be more palatable for regulators.
“While…
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ORLANDO – Look for the next generation of cable's DOCSIS broadband platform to support "multi-gigabit speeds" and be backwards-compatible with earlier DOCSIS versions, according to Phil McKinney, the new president and CEO of CableLabs.
Speaking on a cable technology panel here just prior to the annual SCTE Cable-Tec Expo show, McKinney said CableLabs and its members and vendor partners began working in earnest on the new DOCSIS 3.1 specification about two months ago. Although he didn’t spell out all of the technical details about the proposed standard, he said the aim of the new initiative is to boost MSO broadband…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC said Thursday that Corus Entertainment's OWN and G4techTV (co-owned by Rogers Communications with minority owner Comcast Corporation) specialty channels are not complying with their licenses and must tell the CRTC why those licenses shouldn't be revoked or suspended. The hearing is set for December 11 in Gatineau, Quebec.
As analyzed by Cartt.ca in August, Corus had filed an application to change OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network which began life in 1999 as Canadian Learning Television) from a Category A service to a Category B service and to drop its educational…
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CALGARY- Children 12 and under can now cast votes for their favorite TV show through the 8th annual Shaw Rocket Prize and possibly win a $2,500 scholarship.
The Shaw Rocket Prize is one of the key initiatives of the Shaw Rocket Fund, a not-for-profit corporation that focuses on excellence in the production of children's programming. With an award of $50,000, the Shaw Rocket Prize is presented each year to an independently-produced Canadian children's, youth, or family program and its associated digital content.
By voting, children 12 and under are entered to win one of…
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OTTAWA – Allarco Entertainment, owner of SuperChannel, has lost its bid to have Shaw Communications’ Movie Club and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central banned by the CRTC. At the heart of the complaint was a dispute over whether on-demand programming offered by Shaw Movie Club can be considered an on-demand extension of its linear service if it does not duplicate all of its linear programming.
The CRTC decision is a welcome one for Shaw which launched its Movie Club service last year in direct response to the increasing competition from…
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TORONTO – FX Canada debuts today on Shaw and Shaw Direct where subscribers can now view exclusive programming including award-winning series American Horror Story and Louie, cult comedies The League and Wilfred, and late-night shows Brand X with Russell Brand and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.
FX Canada is available to Shaw subscribers in standard definition on channel 156 (channel…
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